Supporting so-called ‘big game hunting’ is a terrible thing to do. Hopefully that deserved bad publicity will convince Nikon to help preserve rare animals instead of supporting such senseless killing, or just focus on creating great products and not this sort of thing.

King of Swaziland

Big game hunting gives communities a reason to support animal populations. In places where trophy hunting has been banned, animal populations have been decimated (poachers come, nobody stops them, because there are no profits from rich hunters, and the animals compete for grazing space with domestic cattle).

PAG

This has nothing to do with preserving rare animals and is instead an animal rights issue. If people don’t approve of any hunting that’s fine, but let’s keep the issue at hand from being muddled, something both articles failed to do.

Personally, I’m a conservationist and have no problems with people hunting or fishing for animals within healthy populations. In fact here in the U.S. it has been hunters’ money that has preserved enormous areas of top notch habitat through taxation via the Pittman-Robertson Act. Every gun, bow, and bullet are taxed at 10-11%. Wallop-Breaux does the same for fishing areas with a fishing equipment tax of 10%. Add in license and federal duck stamp money and hunters and anglers have done more for conservation that any other groups.

Plug

You are talking about the situation in the US, a well-developed nation and your comments are clearly correct in that context. I have been travelling to Africa for thirty years and the difference there is absolute. I have never detected any benefit from hunting other than to corrupt fat cats and local populations rarely gain. There is a place for hunting, particularly in the sphere of habitat protection, but in Africa? No way in the foreseeable cultural and political future there, and rich tourists who hunt there are to my mind irresponsible. Anyway this site is about photography and you can shoot your prey there without a gun but with, dare I say it, much more skill with a camera.

reallyniceguy

Bzzzt…Wrong. This site is about Nikon and they make rifle scopes. Article was about Nikon and their support of hunting.

neversink

Your comment is erroneous. You seem to imply that it has ONLYa been hunters’ money that have preserved enormous areas

Spy Black

The 800mm is delayed?! That’s it, I’m switching over to Canon…

n11

But that 800mm IS quite the canon!… : P

KS

I just like every Nikon new products release. Really impressed by the new development.

neonspark

the image comparison of the 80-200 vs 200+TC goes to show just how wrong those that think the 80-200 is not a professional lens. I bet NPS will include it in the list of qualifying lenses for NPS membership.

Thomas

I think you mean the 80-400, neonspark.
I don’t know what Nikon has as NPS-rules, but I know that this is a great lens. I tested it…

Tondu

The bad publicity is well deserved! Trophy hunting is one of the most disgusting things a human beeing can do!

Neopulse

Sucks about the negative comments on the publicity. Guess should try to aim for a publicity in which the scopes are used for gunning down terrorists from a distance…. oh no wait…. that won’t help either because some other group of people will start hating on that. And on, and on it will continue.

Mike

I dunno. Where’s the sport in hunting? Wearing camouflage and spraying yourself with muskox urine only to fire a rifle from a comfortable distance doesn’t seem too sporting. Why not use a paint ball system vs bullets? Big horn sheep in the U.S. are evolving to be smaller. Hunters take out the biggest of the big and with it their genes. Leaves the smaller males to pass along their “my smaller size saved my life, therefore it might do our offspring some good too” genes. Paintballs would give you well hung hunters the satisfaction that you tracked down and pretend-killed your prey. You still get to wear muskox urine and the alpha males get to live and breed for future hunters. That’s bi-winning. You want sport hunting? Get a loin cloth and a spear and be a real man.

Neopulse

You’ve never hunted in your life apparently, because if you ever did you would know that there’s more than one way to hunt.

Mike

Really?

Neopulse

Yes, really! And it’s actually quite interesting to do. I personally don’t hunt for trophies and never have. I hunt to eat what I kill only and never overdo it. Hunted wild boar in Argentina with nothing, but a long knife/dagger (about 12 inches long). And that is just one way to hunt of other ways that don’t involve firearms. Bow and arrow is common and even lances.

neversink

Bad press for Nikon in hunting is only superseded by the bad press they received last year for cancelling a show on the portraits of some of the surviving comfort women (sexual slaves) during World War II imprisoned and abused by the Japanese military. I am sure Nikonians will forbid discussion on this topic.

Mansgame

Why is the Tamron macro lens so expensive? For about $50 more (or when there is a sale), you can get the real thing at 105mm

alwyn

I don’t have a problem with Nikon manufacturing ware to be used for hunting. Heck, if you take away all the firearms in the world will it stop people getting murdered? No it won’t. I do however have a problem with them sponsoring people like Melissa Bachman and so forth

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1453607346 Jason Philbrook

Nikon’s Prostaff Scope is awesome. It’s affordable and rugged and optically excellent; all things we expect out of them for cameras and lenses. I’ve got one I use for target shooting.

The hunters I know are indeed solid conservationists; people have to have food and hunting is about as traditional as it gets. Paintball between people is fun, but is no substitute.